Dinghy Day 2.0, and on to Ft Myers

Friday, January 29, 2021. Day 54.

I have been in a vaccine frenzy for close to a month. Getting up at 5am, each week, trying to get an appointment on line at Publix. The site opens at 6am and success is totally random. I have signed up on every hospital and county site in Florida that I could find.

Florida, in December, started vaccinating everyone over 65, who showed up, but after objections of some residents, began to require proof of residency. Even though we have been in Florida since late December, we are living on the boat and traveling to different marinas; we didn't have traditional “proof”.

I spent some time working to get the paperwork together to meet the proof of “snow bird” status so we can get a vaccine in Florida. As a “snowbird,“ I needed a lease, and a second piece of ID, such as a utility bill or a letter from a financial institution. The vaccine quest was beginning to dominate my life.

It was a long day. We had to return to the GICW due to the heavy winds and choppy water. Travel took longer primarily due to the dozens of bridges, 

but the calm weather and pretty scenery made it worth the delay.

Saturday, January 30, 2021. Day 55.

We were on the GICW so again there were many bridges. Dolphins were joyfully playing in our wake; 

true delight! We anchored around 3:34pm, facing Sanibel Island, Ding Darling Anchorage. We hadn't tested the motor since we received it in Clearwater and today was the day: Dinghy Day 2.0.

It was after 4 PM when we started the process of lowering the dinghy. This was only the second time we have tried putting the dinghy in the water. The motor is incredibly noisy and loud. Although it was much better this time than it was the first try, it was still awkward and time consuming. It took us about an hour and a half on Dinghy Day; this time, Dinghy Day 2.0, we were able to get the tender in the water in maybe 45 to 50 minutes. Preparation for lowering it from the top of the boat includes inflating its 3 compartments, tying and untying various lines, and swinging, while lowering the tender, out and over the side of the boat. It is definitely a two person project. The pump is really cool; it works pushing air into the dinghy both on the pull up as well as the push down. It’s too bad my bicycle pump doesn’t work that way.

We were told by the the folks on Magnolia, back on Dinghy Day, that lowering the dinghy is the most dangerous part of the Kadey Krogan trawler experience. Finally, the dinghy was in the water. I thought we should name the dinghy, and suggested “Takes Two”; Roland was not enamored with that name. He preferred ZZ, short for my first boat, a sailboat named ZigZag. I think he liked ZZ because with only 2 letters, the work to apply the name is greatly reduced. No decision yet on the name; suggestions appreciated.

Roland got into the dinghy when we got it in the water, installed the seat, and I brought out the battery and the motor and the handle and the lifejackets and the radio, etc., and etc., and after a long time (I was very hesitant stepping from the swim platform ), I too got into the dinghy. Thank goodness for the staple.

The good news is that the motor worked. It is slow and doesn’t have much of a range, but we had a nice ride. We approached Sanibel from the GICW side, not the gulf side, but unfortunately, got too close to shore. It was shallow and we got stuck and had to use the oar to pull off the bottom.

All in all it was a lovely nice sunset ride and best of all, we did not hoist the dinghy back up on the flybridge but rather tied it to the back of the boat so that we could take another test ride in the morning. We declared Dinghy Day 2.0, a success, had a great celebratory dinner, and admired a wonderful sunset.

Sunday, January 31, 2021. Day 56. Dinghy Day 2.5.

After breakfast, we got back in the dinghy. It was wonderful that we didn’t have to lower it. There it was, right on the back, tied to the swim platform. We motored around for a short but sweet ride; I was really beginning to like these dinghy rides. Of course, we would now have to put the dinghy back on the top of the boat. Hoisting the dinghy is a lot easier than lowering it. It only took us about 15 minutes to get it back in place, after we had taken the motor, tiller/controller, and battery out of the dinghy. Convinced that eventually we would figure out how to efficiently raise and lower the dinghy, we declared Dinghy Day 2.5, a success.

We readied the boat, raised the anchor and started our trip to Legacy Harbor in Fort Myers.

Leaving Clearwater & a boarding at sea.....

 Wednesday, January 27, 2021 Day 52.

Sadly, we have to leave Carlouel Beach and Yacht Club, and Clearwater. It had been an amazing visit. A travel advisory was in place because of heavy fog in the early morning; we couldn’t see anything.

Sometime around noon, the fog began to lift and we felt comfortable to cast off. No one was around and we left the dock on our own, one of the few times so far that we have handled docking or de-docking without assistance. Fortunately, the wind was in the right direction and therefore helped us off the dock, and because there were no other boats at the yacht club, it turned out to be fairly easy exit. Roland did almost all the work, although I did tie up the two fenders and secured them on the flybridge.

We went south the way we had traveled north to Clearwater, going through various fixed bridges and then those that required us to request openings.

 After an hour or so, the fog rolled in again and it became almost impossible to see. We slowed down and listened to the other captains on the radio requesting openings and letting the bridge tenders know they couldn’t see how far or close they were to the bridges. It was dense fog. Because of the fog, we had to change our plans. After a couple of more bridges, at 2:30pm, we reached the anchorage that we had stopped in last Thursday, on our way north. At 2:40pm, we were anchored and celebrated with an early happy hour. We were very happy that we had survived the fog.

Having arrived fairly early, we decided to experiment with dinner. Roland moved the grille from the flybridge to the staple on the swim platform, and opened the new the air fryer to make sweet potato fries. The dinner was excellent. I worked on my blog and hoped that the storm would move on. The boat was being moved around quite a bit; it rained for a while, and we had to move the grille under cover and prepare for a stormy day tomorrow.

Thursday, January 28, 2021. Day 53.

I was up before 7am. An alarm was beeping in the pilot house. I was concerned that we were in shallow water (my hope was that that was all it was; shallow water is handleable). I awaken Captain Roland to deal with the alarm. Fortunately, it was the shallow water alarm, and at this point, be were at the low tide and there was enough water for us to stay where we were. In fact, the tide has already begin to rise.

Until the storm passed, which would probably be around 1 PM, we would not be going anywhere. I took the opportunity to stretch, we had blueberry pancakes for breakfast, I did the dishes and thoroughly dusted the main cabin, the pilot house and one set of stairs. A lot of work.

When the winds died down a bit, we pulled up the anchor and Magic Moments, was on the move again. As we were on the Gulf ICW, we had to go through and under a myriad of bridges, so many that Captain Roland prefers going into the Gulf when the weather permits. The bridges can really slow progress.  We passed by the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, which is a spectacular cable stayed bridge. 

We were now in Tampa Bay and it was getting really choppy, but I needed to organize my vitamins so I can easily take them each night. vitamins together. I take 12 vitamins a day; every six weeks or so I organize my vitamins and put them in individual containers so that each night it is a simple process. There’s really no place on the boat for me to lay out these 40 to 60 small containers and fill them with my 12 vitamins. So, I used the table in the salon and after setting up these 60 or so containers,

 I heard Captain Roland speaking to someone. This was enormously surprising; we were in the middle of the Bay and no one was around. Silly me, I looked out the window and saw an inflatable dinghy with four Coast Guard officers talking to Roland. Really?? The officers were politely requesting to board the vessel. Requesting is just a formality, the answer, of course is: “of course”. After they determined the number of folks aboard, and were comfortable that we had no firearms, their inflatable dinghy moved to the stern to prepare to board.

How lucky! Are you kidding me?? Roland has been sailing for 50 years, he has soloed across the Atlantic twice, he has been living on the water full time for a total of 9 years, and he has never been boarded by the Coast Guard. And now, I have been on this boat for less than 2 months and we were now going to be boarded by the Coast Guard for a random safety check?!

First of all, there were now hundreds of small bottles and pills covering the salon, which is the entrance to the boat. I was freaked out; what if they thought the vials and pills were other than Vit C, A, D-3, etc., etc., etc.? Really, these bottles were all over the salon table.

So, Captain Roland put the motor into neutral and the throttle into idle, and as Magic Moments was bobbing heavily on the water, two of the four Coast Guard officers, wearing sidearms, boarded the boat (the other two stayed in the inflatable dinghy next to us). Keep in mind we really don’t know a lot about this boat; we are brand new owners, and we haven’t used most of the safety equipment (thank goodness!). 

One of the officers sat with me in the salon and asked some detailed questions as he filled out some paperwork. The other officer went through her list of safety items that we were required to have on board. Fortunately, we had everything on the extensive list (our PO was a volunteer safety reviewer, so things should have been in order), except that we were required to have three flares. We had between 20 and 30 flares, however, the officer checked every expiration date. We were 1 short, the rest had expired. BTW: they still work, but we will buy some current flares. The officer suggested that we donate the expired flares to the coast guard for their training use.

It was amazing that Roland could find every item on the list, notwithstanding our short ownership period. The officer was shocked that we had the required Rule Book (everybody else downloads it on their phone); 

she said we were her best safety check yet (we have no idea how many she has done). She issued her clearance (she was still blown away about the hard copy of the Rule Book), signed off on a yellow sheet, giving us the opportunity to skip another inspection for 6 months.

I was just thrilled that they didn’t ask me about the vitamins!

North on the way to Clearwater Beach

Tuesday, January 19, 2021. Day 44.

We were approaching seven weeks. I got up early and ran 3 miles around the Franklin National Park. I am still running slowly. Hopefully speed is not an important part of my work out. The day was sunny and beautiful. It was a bit crisp, perfect for a morning run.

There was no wind so it would be easier to get out of the weeds and off the dock. Kevin and Caroline, from Red Tail, came over to give us a hand with the dock lines. They are staying another day or two before they go to St. Pete’s for a month.

We said our goodbyes and thanked them for a wonderful couple of days “buddy boating”. Kevin turned us on to a yacht club that is very reasonably priced, and may allow us to get a night or two at affiliated yacht clubs. Roland decided he was going to join.

We left the dock at 10:50 am, and went through the Franklin Lock at 11:17. This time on the starboard side which Captain Roland prefers, not withstanding the lock tender's warning of the shorter ropes. We were only going down a foot and a half. It’s my understanding the Franklin Lock is the newest and it is designed to keeps the salt content in Lake Okeechobee as low as possible.

There was another trawler or motor yacht on the port side ahead of us. The lock tender saw that we hailed from Philadelphia PA, and asked our opinion as to where to get the best cheese steaks, Pat's or Gino’s.

After we left the lock, I steered as Roland put all the fenders and lines away. Because today was so beautiful, we went to the fly bridge to steer. We were now on the Caloosahatchee River. We had to call for a requested bridge opening notwithstanding that the bridge was under maintenance on one side and only one side was being lifted, we got through comfortably (it looked really narrow to me), but the Captain did an excellent job. 

The Caloosahatchee River is wide and deep and we had several bridges to pass under, some of them, thankfully, fixed and high enough for us to go under, without opening. Around 12:45pm, as we approach Ft Myers, we saw circular patterns on the surface of the water. Roland believes that the circular pattern is a sign that there is a manatee under the water; cool, I couldn't see her.

Around 2:30pm, 3 or more dolphins were riding our bow, jumping, cavorting, and playing with us for quite a while. I took a couple of photos. It was really very joyful.

 Pleasure boats and fishing boots were zipping by, making wakes, and crossing in front of us making it difficult to cruise; maybe they were looking at the dolphins playing with Magic Moments. At around 3:30 pm, we anchored across from Sanibel Island. The view was again, serene and really pretty. One of the delightful parts of cruising is that every night the view is different and every night it is beautiful.

 Wednesday, January 20, 2021. Day 45.

I was up before 5 AM am, ready to go online at 6 am to try to get an appointment at Publix for a vaccine. It was very frustrating; it took over an hour and no appointments, other than in the panhandle and we really couldn’t get there in time. We would have to find a marina, leave the boat, rent a car, and drive eight hours each way, at a minimum. I also tried calling Lee County for an appointment (Fort Myers), but after a very long time on the phone, nothing worked. I was tired, frustrated, and stressed.

 But, at 11am, my day was changed! I watched the inauguration. So impressive, and I was very emotional. And also very hopeful. The views on the water as we cruised were terrific and beautiful but I missed most of it dealing with the frustration of not getting a vaccine, and then, the joy of watching the inauguration and participating in positive change. It was thrilling!

 We entered Lemon Bay, which is a very long bay, intending to anchor there for the night. Unfortunately, on our way, there was a surprisingly shallow spot and we ran aground. Wonderful. Roland tried a couple of maneuvers to to get us off, but we were not successful.

Roland called BoatUS (he has unlimited towing - like AAA), gave them our coordinates and a description of our boat along with his membership information and they arranged for a towboat. The towboat operator called, he knew exactly where we were stuck, right outside Grove City, he even described the restaurant that we were eyeing across the water. We were at the intersection of two channels and apparently a very common place for boats to run aground. The channel markers were a bit confusing. The towboat Captain said that if we wait about 15 minutes, the current would come in very strongly and it may just release the keel. In any case, he would be on his way. Sure enough in 15 minutes the current must have come in; we moved off the ground, motored back into the channel, and called the tow boat and thanked him.

We were back in the channel and at 3:15 we approached the Tom Adams Bridge, requesting an opening. Tuscan Sun, another KK, passed us going south, and we connected on the radio.

 3:37 pm, we anchored, near Englewood in Lemon Bay. It was a beautiful evening, drinks on the back deck to celebrate, and then Roland gave me a tour of the engine room: the two diesel tanks, generator, motor fuel filters, through holes, coolant level meters, hot water tank and then the strainer and cooling water for the engine (I cleaned out the shells and stones that we had collected in the strainer when we had run aground). The engine room is not full height so I had to be seated or on my knees on the floor and it is also extraordinarily hot. But it is a clean and well maintained area, even the bilge was clean.

 I went to bed early, it had been a long and stressful day, and I hate waking up at 5 am, but, with a sigh of relief and joy, I savored the fact that we have a new president. Yeah!!